Category: Top Picks for Teens

A huge explosion in New London in 1937 opens this story, which then flashes back to Naomi, a Mexican, and Wash, a Negro, who have fallen in love in a time of deep segregation. No one in this town can cross the racial barriers. This work of historical fiction is “A powerful, layered tale of forbidden love in times of unrelenting racism.” (author’s note taken from Kirkus Reviews)

This book revisits Hurricane Katrina in graphic novel format. Its style will appeal to all audiences – children, teens and adults. The excellent writing and high quality artwork captures both the devastation caused by this disaster and the human responsibility necessary for recovery. Additionally, the book also captures the triumph of New Orleans through its cleanup and rebuilding.

Each fall, Cara’s family enters the accident season – a time when they all become terribly accident-prone . The rest of the year, her family is just like any other family. Some years are worse than others, and this year may be the worst one yet. But Cara, Sam (her ex-step brother), and her best friend Bea are going to try to solve the mystery of the accident season for once and for all.

Tyler has everything going for him – he’s popular, a football star with a hot girlfriend, headed to a good college – until his mother commits suicide the summer before his senior year. After that, he lets everything go and shuts himself off. When his childhood friend, Jordyn, comes back into his life she offers him some solace and her love. Can Tyler open himself up to her and find happiness again? This is a very raw, and – at times difficult – read and deals with issues of abuse which can be graphic and unrelenting. That being said, it is also powerful and unforgettable.

Maggie has spent every summer of her life at a girls’ camp in Kentucky. Now, at age fifteen, she’s fallen in love with her counselor – another girl. This is a graphic memoir about first love –and first heartbreak – which is both poignant and insightful.

“Robin Loxley is seven years old when his parents disappear without a trace. Years later the great love of his life, Marian, is also taken from him. Driven by these mysteries, and this anguish, Robin follows a darkening path into the ancient heart of Sherwood Forest. What he encounters there will leave him transformed . . .” (excerpt from book jacket)

Written by a local author, this is the first book in The Psion Chronicles. A global ebola pandemic is causing children to be born with “psionic” or paranormal powers. Years later, six of them are captured by the government and sentenced to death, as they are feared by “baselines” (those without powers). But their powers are so different … can they find a way to work together to save themselves before it’s too late?

In this memoir, Abbas Kazarooni is forced to flee his home in Tehran before he’s even ten. He ends up in Istanbul, alone and on his own, with nothing to guide him. Abbas must conquer his fear in order to survive in a country where he doesn’t even speak the language. This is a story of courage and resilience and readers will be rooting for Abbas every step of the way.

When Ari was little and her parents were killed in a fire, the trauma was almost unbearable. To forget, she took a spell. Years later, Ari visits a hekamist to get another spell to erase all memory of Win, her boyfriend who recently died. But there are consequences to taking multiple spells … Told from four different points of view, the past and present are woven together and brings to light the truth behind a terrible tragedy.

When we met A in Every Day, he was a teen with no attachments and no commitments – until he met Rhiannon, they shared a perfect day and fell in love. This companion tells the story from Rhiannon’s perspective – how she copes with loving A (now known as Justin), as she seeks to understand her love for him, and tries to decide whether it’s worth the emotional toll.